Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Ginger Soy Chicken (7/19)
The LA Times does a piece in its weekly Food section in which readers ask for recipes from their favorite restaurant dishes. The Times will get the recipe from the chef and adapt it for a home kitchen. I decided to make the ginger soy chicken wings from the Beacon restaurant, which sounded all right but looked amazing! Unfortunately I felt the recipe adaptation was flawed. I followed it according to the directions but they turned out horribly salty, and some ingredients were never used because they didn't write anything about them in the recipe itself. It was ok, though, and I might try it again if I feel like deep-frying.
Mes ingrédients
Combine the chicken broth, mirin, sake, soy sauce, sugar and ginger in a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the sauce is reduced to 1 cup. Remove from heat and reserve.
Heat a deep fryer up to 350 degrees F, or a large saucepan with enough oil to come 3 inches up the side.
Season the wings (legs in my case) with salt and pepper, then dredge in cornstarch.
Fry a couple at a time until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Drain on a rack or towel until all the pieces have been fried. Make sure you get the oil back to temperature before you put more chicken in! It drops a lot when you first start the fry.
After frying all the chicken, bring the reserved sauce to a boil and add the wings, stirring to coat. Cook the chicken until the sauce reduces to a thick glaze.
Remove from heat and toss with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
If I were to try this recipe again I might add some honey or check carefully the amount of soy sauce I'm using. Also, the recipe calls for butter but doesn't say when you should use it--I'm assuming you add it when you bring the sauce back to a boil, before adding the wings. Hope you have better luck with it! Also, if you're firing up the deep fryer it's really hard not to go crazy and start throwing in other things--Joe Joe's, onions, socks. Be careful.
Ginger soy chicken wings
Adapted from Beacon restaurant
Serves 4 to 6, appetizer portions
Soy-ginger glaze
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup mirin
1/4 cup sake
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
1. Combine the chicken broth, mirin, sake, soy sauce, sugar and ginger
in a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring
occasionally.
2. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the sauce is reduced to 1
cup. Remove from heat and reserve.
Chicken wings and assembly
Vegetable oil for frying
12 whole chicken wings (about 2 pounds), separated at the joints and
wing tips removed (save for stock or another use)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup soy-ginger glaze
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds for garnish
1. Fill a large, heavy-bottom saucepan with enough oil to come 3
inches up the side. Heat the oil until a thermometer inserted reads
350 degrees.
2. Season the wings with the salt and pepper, then dredge with the
cornstarch. Fry the wings, a few at a time, until lightly golden and
cooked through, about 8 minutes. Drain the wings on a rack.
3. When all the wings are fried, heat a wok or heavy sauté pan over
high heat. Add the reserved ginger-soy sauce and bring to a boil, then
add the wings, stirring to coat. Cook the wings in the sauce, stirring
constantly, until the sauce reduces enough that it coats the wings in
a thick, syrupy glaze.
4. Remove from the heat and toss the wings with the sesame seeds.
Serve immediately.
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